The present invention relates to tool boxes and, more particularly, to tool boxes for holding small hand tools, such as screwdrivers and wrenches and other associated items that may be needed by the user from time to time, such as screws, washers, nuts and bolts.
Tool boxes of the type referred to above are well known in the art and commonly used by handimen and/or servicemen. Such boxes are generally in the form of an elongated rectangularly shaped container having a bottom wall, a back wall, a front wall, a pair of side walls and a cover which is usually hinged to the back wall and which is usually includes a handle so that the tool box can be easily moved from one location to another. One or more trays are usually disposed inside the container. In some tool boxes the trays are removable while in other tool boxes the trays are pivotally mounted so that they can be partially lifted out to gain access to the storage area underneath.
Normally, the user of the tool box will place small sized items in the tray, or trays, if there are more than one, and lay the larger sized items such as the screwdrivers and wrenches on the floor of the container underneath the trays.
Although the trays are normally partitioned into compartments, the size of the compartments is frequently not the proper size needed for the specific items the user wishes to place in the trays. In addition, the space between the trays and the bottom wall, although providing an area in which tools can be stored or stacked, is not constructed such that the tools can be arranged in an orderly fashion. Instead, the tools are simply placed or thrown into the area one on top of the other. As a result, after a period of time the tools and other items in the tool box are simply arranged in two piles, one pile seated on top of the tray or trays and the other pile in the storage area underneath the trays. Since the tools and other items are not arranged in an orderly manner the user of the tool box is forced in many cases to remove most all of the tools in the bottom area until he finds the particualr tool needed at a particular time. This is very time consuming and often very frustrating, especially if the tool is for some unknown reason not even the tool box. In addition, the general tool box construction of one or more trays on the top and a bottom storage area into which can be placed or thrown anything that will not fit into the trays lends itself to an overloading of the tool box with items that are not frequently used.
Accordingly, the need exists for an improvement in the construction of tool boxes for use in holding hand tools and other related items.